Subject A6
by minigranger24
Summary: Em was just like any other greenie. Sent up in the box at the very beginning of the maze trails she becomes one of the boys. Her family is made up of the gladers. As the years go by she gains some memories and new friends and even some foes. When Thomas shows up how will Em react? This is set pre-maze runner and is a mix of both things from the books series and the movie.
1. Chapter 1

A/N Hi :) So this story will eventually be a newt/ oc fic but for quite a while it just focuses on the gladers and their bond. Hope you all like it and review if you want and let me know what you think.

The blare of the siren alerted the four boys to the arrival of the box for the week. By that time their situation was starting to seem more routine. Alby, Newt, Frypan and Luke all made their way to the box and pulled open the door to reveal a small figure huddled in the corner and the usual bundle of supplies.

"What the shuck is this?" Newt asked as he and Alby peered into the box

"Its a girl." Alby replied before he began to try to coax the girl up and to grab his arms so he could pull her out.

Once she was out, the boys all got a good look at her, she was slight and pale with dark brown hair and simple brown eyes. She stood there trembling like they all had when they showed up just a few weeks or months ago.

"Whats your name girl?" Newt asked as she leveled her gaze on him.

"Em" She whispered as she looked around the glade they were beginning to call home.

"Welcome to the Glade Em" Alby shook her hand and that was it, she was the newest greenie in the glade.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Heres the second chapter of the story. These first few chapter are going to be setting up the storyline and after this chapter you will get to see the glade and all the gladers as we learn more about their time in the glade pre-thomas. As always hope you like it and review if you want.

Those first few months on the glade were hard. The gladers would later on refer to them as the dark days. The glade was chaotic with gladers running about stealing each others food and supplies when the owner would go into the maze. Some of the boys had taken to moving boys they didn't like into the maze right before the doors closed. Em was beyond frightened and she, frypan, newt and ably had taken to hiding in the woods during the night time. When they were there they would plot about how to restore order to the glade. Alby had decided that because he had been the first there that he should lead the gladers. Em and newt would be his lieutenants. Em and alby bickered over every little detail of how to rule the glade, and newt would stand off to the side and mediate when needed. After a 2 weeks of planning Alby was ready to get to work. A few days later when it was beginning to get dark the plan began.

"Ready frypan?" Em asked as the two gladers approached the small group of sleeping boys. Their part of the plan was simple. Frypan had placed some sleeping meds into the food of the boys that had caused trouble. Now Em and Frypan just had to drag them out towards the doors. With a grunt Em grabbed the ankles of one of the three boys causing trouble.

"How is it that these shanks weigh so much?" She asked as frypan dragged the other boy a few steps behind her.

"My cooking is just so good they come back for seconds." Frypan grumbled as they slowly got closer to the maze.

"Your food is pretty good frypan" Em said with a final grunt as she finished dragging her boy.

"Do we need to go get the third shank? Whats his name…. uh Mark?" Em asked as she wiped her brow with her shirt.

"No, we need to send a message" Alby said as he grabbed one of the boys ankles and dragged him out into the maze. Em began to realize what alby mean as he came back for the other boy.

"Alby I thought we were just gonna give them a scare. Not send them out there permanently." Em whispered as the older boy dragged the second boy out and waited for the doors to begin to close.

"It had to be done Em, I tried to get him to think of another option." Newt mumbled as he came to stand by her.

"We needed order but order should not come with violence." Em said as she walked up to Alby.

"Violence was the only way to get to these shanks Em. Or did you want to wake up one morning in the maze, with no food and a griever right in front of you?" Albys voice began to rise as he explained his plan to the girl. After a moment Em acquiesced and nodded that she understood why alby had to do what he did. The four gladers sat in the grass and waited for the inevitable. As the sun went down they heard the maze begin to change and they heard the beginning screams of the two boys in the maze.

"No! How could you do such a thing?!" The final boy, Mark came running to the closed doors and then turned towards the small group sitting in the grass.

"You boys were causing trouble and we needed it to stop." Alby said as he stood up.

"Now you can either learn the new rules or you can end up like your friends out there" Alby's voice got louder as he noticed the other gladers come trickling over to the doors. He started at the boys until one finally asked the question he had been waiting for.

"What are the rules Alby?"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Thank you to everyone who has either favorited or followed this story :) I would love it if you guys would leave reviews and let me know what you think of the story :)

Over time the glade had a set system for running things smoothly. After a year they had set jobs and had Minho and the runners. Newt and Em where the top runners and were Alby's second and third in command of the glade. They had made the glade their home but they needed to find their way out of the glade and maze, before they lost any more boys.

They had lost 6 boys to the maze in that year after the dark days, either to grievers or some just couldn't make it back in before the doors closed. With each boy lost Newt and Alby seemed to sink further into a depression and Em was grasping at straws to try to get them to see that it wasn't their faults. But it wasn't working and Em was afraid to see what would happen to the two boys if they kept blaming themselves.

She awoke to the doors opening for the day and she rolled out of her hammock in the small homestead they had built. The rest of the gladers followed suit and grabbed shoes and small hand fulls of snacks, getting ready for the days work. Em finished lacing up her boots and made her way to the doors. Minho stood waiting along with Newt. With a terse nod all three took off into the maze each running in a different direction.

Em ran in her section carefully remembering the turns until she reached a closed section. As she turned around she heard a scream from within the maze. She knew that voice.

"Newt" she whispered before she took off running towards the shout. As she was running she unsheathed the machete she kept with her running gear. Prepared to drag Newt away from a griever she was shocked when she rounded a corner and found Newt lying on the ground with minho sitting next to him. As she drew closer she saw that Newt had broken his leg and the bone had punctured the skin down by his ankle.

"Em" Her head snapped up to meet minho's eyes "Help me get him up" He began to pull the now groaning Newt up into a standing position. She scurried over and grabbed the other side of Newt and together they began to drag him out of the maze. As newt groaned in pain one last time before going unconscious she knew that he was out of the maze for good, and that he had finally learned to stop blaming himself.

"What happened?" Alby asked as he ran up to the doors.

"The slinthead got hurt. Help us get him to the homestead." Minho grunted as he and Em continued to slowly drag Newts prone body through the doors.

"Let me help" Alby said as he took Ems place. As they switched places Alby gave Em a reassuring nod, he would take care of her best friend.

"Em go get the med-jacks, meet us in the homestead." Alby said while Em had already taken off in the direction of the med-jack tent.

"Good that" She hollered over her shoulder as she kept running. She grabbed the nearest med-jack and after a few minutes of bickering over why he needed to go to the homestead and to not ask questions they were at the homestead. Newt was still unconscious and the med-jack, clint if Em could recall his name correctly, looked over him. Alby, Em and Miho waited with baited breath as Clint finally got to looking at newts leg.

"Definitely broken, I need jeff in here to help me set it before he," Clint jerked his head to Newts prone form on the bed "wakes up and starts to holler because of the pain."

"I'll go get him" Minho said and quick as a flash he was out of the room and they watched him run across the glade towards the med-jack tent. Clint got ready to set Newts broken bone while Em and Alby stood in the corner of the room. Though they had their problems with each other they were both Newts friends and they were still friends themselves.

"I'm back" Minho panted from the doorway with jeff right behind him. He let the other glader go by and they all watched as the two med-jacks got ready to fix Newts leg.

"We need two of you to hold him down, he's gonna squirm while we do this." Clint said looking up at the gladers surrounding him. Em looked a the boys, she knew she wouldn't be strong enough to fully hold down Newt even with one of them helping her. With a sigh Alby and Minho walked up and moved to restrain him. It was then that Em noticed Newts head starting to move, he was waking up.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Hi all you slintheads :) I wanna thank everyone who has either favorited or followed this story :) You all rock ! So here is the second part of how Newt got his limp. Read and review let me know if you want any certain snippets in the gladers lives before thomas shows up :) Enjoy!

Previously on Subject A6

"We need two of you to hold him down, he's gonna squirm while we do this." Clint said looking up at the gladers surrounding him. Em looked a the boys, she knew she wouldn't be strong enough to fully hold down newt even with one of them helping her. With a sigh Alby and Minho walked up and moved to restrain him. It was then that Em noticed newts head starting to move, he was waking up.

"I can't watch this." She sputtered before sprinting from the homestead. She went far into the forest and she could still hear newts scream as his leg was set. Gasping for breath she collapsed under a small tree near the stream deep in the deadlands. A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she imagined the pain her best friend was going through. But it was all her fault, if she had flat out told newt that it wasn't his fault that gladers were dying, then maybe he wouldn't have tried to hurt himself.

She sat under that tree for hours. She watched as the sun rose on the glade and hear the doors open for the day. With a sigh she got up from her spot under the tree and slowly made her way to the doors.

"Em what the shuck are you doing here!" Minho sounded surprised to see her standing at the doors with the other runners. She just glanced at the homestead and then back to the keeper of the runners.

"I can't just sit here and wait for him to get better. I need to be doing something. Alby will take care of him." She stared at Minho daring him to tell her to stay.

"Good that. You heard the lady, runners lets go." Minho said and without looking back they ran off into the maze.

That day in the maze was uneventful, Em ran her section, met up with the other runners at the map room, made her map for the day, then left. Em wandered around the glade for the rest of the evening and then ended up hiding in the kitchen with frypan.

"You know hiding from them isint going to make it any better Em." Frypan said when he had finished serving all the gladers some stew for dinner.

"Who says I'm hiding?" She asked as she munched on a piece of bread as she looked everywhere but at the cook.

"I am, half the glade is. You know that it wasn't your fault shuck face" Frypan said as he made Em stand up and look him in the eye. She stood there and had to admit that maybe frypan had a bit of a point.

"Ok maybe you are right frypan." She grumbled

"Good that, now go take Alby some dinner and go talk to your best friend." Frypan handed her a bowl of stew and a water bottle before pushing her out of the kitchen and in the direction of the homestead. She took a deep breath and made her way to the homestead. As she climbed the steps she looked up at the room Newt was in.

"Alby, Newt, hows it going?" She asked as she peeked into the room. "I brought dinner." She held up the two bowls of stew.

"Em." A voice croaked from the corner of the room. She looked to see Alby dead asleep on the floor and Newt sitting upright in bed.

"Newt, you alright?" She asked as she stepped into the room. He grimaced a bit as he tried to readjust himself on the bed and give her room to sit. She placed one bowl of stew onto the dresser and handed Newt the other bowl, along with a spoon before sitting on the end of the bed.

"I've been better." He replied before diving into the bowl of stew. He watched as Em wrung her hands nervously.

"Clint said that Im out of the maze for good. My leg should heal up in a couple of months but I can start walking around in a few weeks." He looked up at his best friend and saw the tears gathering in her eyes.

"Newt" She whispered as he pulled her into a hug. She cried as he let a few tears slip out as well.

"S'alright Em, it was my own shucking fault. I couldn't see a way out of the maze so I thought of a way to get myself out of the maze permanently." He whispered back.

"Newt, no offense but think of who you would be leaving behind. We all care about you and even when times get tough we have each other." Em replied as she looked up at him.

"You're right Em. It was a shank decision." The boy mutured as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah a shank decision." Em replied angrily before he laughed and looked at her again.

"This is why I couldn't go through with it Em, I knew you would hate me for it." Newt said somberly .

"Im sorry I ran away, Im a shuck faced friend if I can't help my friend out when he is in pain." Em sat up and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Im sorry I jumped, Im a shank who didnt think of his friends when I was in a lurch." Newt looked at her and hoped she could see the regret in his eyes.

"Stop apologizing and eat your stew." Em smiled as he remembered the bowl of stew he had abandoned. She laughed as Alby woke up at the word stew and she handed him a bowl also. As the boys ate dinner she sat on the bed and told them a funny joke minho had told her earlier in the week about a tree and its leaves. By the end she had forgotten the punchline but the boys both had smiles on their faces. This what the boys needed, a reminder that they could make it through the hard times with a little help from their friends.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Sorry for the wonky upload earlier guys :) Hope you like this chapter :) And thanks to everyone who is reading this story I would love if you would review and let me know what you think :)

For the next few weeks things on the glade began to return to normal. Em was back to running in the maze, Alby went back to taking care of the glade. Newt stayed in the homestead and recovered. But every night once the lights out began, the three friend all hung out in Newts room and told stories till the sun came up.

"Em where the shuck are you? I know its your day off from the maze." Em heard newts voice shouting into the forest as she sat up in a tree near the small creek they got their water from.

"Don't come into the woods newt you can barely walk around the homestead let alone here." She replied as she climbed down and saw him looking at her from the forests edge.

"New greenie is here" He muttered as she came near enough to hear him properly. She slipped under his arm and together they finished hobbling out of the forest.

"I know, I heard the alarm. Honestly Newt my ears work just fine." She replied with a smile as the two began to slowly make their way to the box. Once they got there they saw that alby had already pulled the greenie up and they both heard him confidently say his name to the group, Gally. Em sighed and hoped that the new greenie would live, she couldn't stand to see another die.

"Who's the girl?" The greenie asked as he caught a glance of the small glader standing next to newt.

"Im Em greenie" Gally looked her over and she seemed to feel a sort of brotherly love come from the boy.

"Names Gally" He told her gruffly

"Good that greenie" She smirked lightly up at him. With a glance over at alby she said the welcoming words.

"Welcome to the glade. Alby gonna give him the tour?" She called over to the older boy, who just looked at her and nodded.

"Come on greenie…. erm Gally" Alby led the greenie off to tour the glade and tell him the rules.

"Seems like a decent greenie" Newt said before he grimaced a bit "Buggin leg, always buggin hurting" He grumbled as he leaned on Em a bit more.

"Come on tough guy lets get you back to bed. Clint will kill me if you hurt yourself even more." Em laughed as he frowned while she tugged him back to the homestead.

"Yeah but I feel bloody useless just sitting up in the homestead everyday while everyone else does something." Newt grumbled as they made their way up the small set of stairs.

"Well Im sure someone can think of a task to give you." Em said after a moment of thinking.

"Yeah I tried asking Alby if he had anything I could do and he told me to shut up and rest." Newt grumbled again as they finally reached his room. Em helped him hobble over to the bed and then grabbed him some pain medication and a water bottle.

"You could probably go help Frypan in the kitchen or help supervise the gardens." She suggested as she sat down next to him.

"Yeah I think tomorrow I will go help in the gardens, some fresh air might do me some good." He said with a huge eye roll that made Em laugh. As she stood up to leave she answered Newts unspoken question.

"With you on bedrest I have to shuttle the new greenie to his trials all week, starting with finding him a place to sleep." Em scrunched up her nose at the thought of having to enter the homesteads sleeping quarters, where all greenie, sloppers and baggers slept.

"Night Em" She turned from the doorway and smiled at Newt.

"Night Newt" She said before turning and heading down the stairs. Once she got out of the homestead she spotted the greenie at the kitchen getting his dinner from Frypan.

"How was your tour greenie?" She asked making the boy jump in surprise.

"It was a lot to take in. What do I do know?" He asked and Em could see a bit of fear in the greenie's eye.

"You follow me and we get you a hammock for the night. Tomorrow you start you trials with all the different keepers." Em said simply as she let the greenie finish his dinner. He looked up at her as he finished.

"You can stop calling me greenie, its Gally" The boy responded as she stood and gestured that he should follow.

"Good that, Gally" She smiled as they crossed the glade and entered the sleeping quarters under the main homestead. She wrinkled her nose as the smell of feet and unwashed boys assaulted her.

"Pick any empty hammock, this is where you will bunk until we have your gathering and then you sleep with your keeper." She said as Gally looked over the room of hammocks. He sat in one and then just looked at the dirt.

"i dont remember anything."

"Thats alright, none of us remembered anything when we showed up here. You will be alright now slim it and get some sleep. Tomorrow you start with Winston in the blood house." She gave the boy a hug and then left to go find her sleeping spot with the runners. He would do alright, as Alby always said, the boy would be happy and helping within a few weeks time.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Once again thank you everyone who has favorited or followed this story :) I have on question for you oh wonderful readers, for the next chapter would you like a Newt focused chapter or a chapter more on the gladers as a whole ?

Now almost two years into being in the maze Em was growing up along with many of the boys. The boys voices deepened and they began to tower over the slight girl. Em r maintained her position as a runner after all this time as they still looked for a way out of the maze. Newt, fully recovered from his leg injury with only a slight limp and scar, became keeper of the harvest, taking over from a boy they called Zart, and worked in the fields growing food for the gladers and he and Em hung out on her days off. They were well known for pulling pranks on the gladers, or walking around the glade talking about anything they could think off. Everyone knew how close they were. The gladers were all happy and everything was going great, nobody had been lost to the maze, Alby seemed to lighten up more, and even Gally cracked a few smiles though he had just gone through his changing a few months into his time in the maze. But things wouldn't always stay that good.

One day Em was working on training a new shank, Ben and then they were off into the maze. Em had run this section before but it was new to ben so she made sure he stayed close. At one turn she had stopped to let him ask a question when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Grievers.

"Ben, run" She shouted before they both took off in the direction of the doors. Ems small stature was now apparent as Ben easily got ahead of her. She could hear the greavers claws scuttling behind her and did the only thing she could do to let the other gladers know there was trouble in the maze. She screamed. Right as she finished screaming she felt the prick of a needle on her shoulder and immediately screamed again as a fiery pain began to rip through her veins. She was dimly aware of Minho and Ben pulling her out of the maze, the med jacks giving her a vial of serum, newt hovering over her with alby, Gally sitting by the bed for a while, of other boys staying to watch over her. The pain was so intense that Em remembered just small flickers of memories as her screams turned to small moans and whines.

"The changing is hard on the gladers" Alby said quietly as he and Newt waited for the rest of the runners to come back before nightfall.

"Course its bloody hard on them! Specially when its Em, shes like their sister" Newt growled as he lightly limped back and forth on front of alby. Alby just gave a small smile, he knew Newt cared for the girl. They all did but for Newt it was different. They paused in their argument when they heard a scream from the homestead.

"Newt !" Ems panicked scream had both boys running to the homestead. Once they got there they saw that Gally and another glader had Em pinned while a med-jack, Jeff, gave her another injection of the serum.

"What's she shuckin panicked about?" Newt asked as he joined the fray of boys trying to hold down the screaming and crying girl.

"Don't know she just woke up and started screaming your name you slinthead." The med-jack responded as the boys all watched her calm down and started to fall asleep.

"Newt stay with Em let me know when she wakes up, Gally get back to your boys and get back to work." Alby said before he left the homestead. Gally gazed at Ems small form on the bed one last time before leaving to get back to work. The other gladers trickled out behind him to return to their tasks before lights out.

"Oh Em" Newt whispered as he lay down next to the sleeping girl. She was out of the maze now too. With a small sigh he closed his eyes and fell asleep within minutes.

"Newt" The teen was awoken to fingers poking him. He opened his eyes to see Em sitting on the bed next to him.

"You alright?" He asked as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Healthy as a horse, Jeff checked me over earlier today. Just gonna have a small scar on my shoulder from where the griever stung me." She smiled at him and pointed to the bandage on her right shoulder.

"Any memories?"

"We were friends Newt, before the maze we were friends. I had a family, and a brother" She looked so excited that Newt didn't want to tell her that he had a memory when she had tearfully told him her brother was missing. He wanted her to enjoy her memories.

"Thats great Em" Newt said mustering a smile for his friend.

"Now come on shuck face, while you were sleeping the day away I went and talked to alby, guess who is the newest track-hoe?" Em asked as she twirled in a small circle.

"Well it seems I'm going to have to teach you how to be a track-hoe then. Come on Em this may take a while" Newt said rolling his eyes at her silly antics, before he sat up and they made their way out of the homestead and towards the fields. Em ran over to Gally and Newt watched as the normally angry boy cracked a smile and gave Em a piggyback ride around the builders room.

"Gally I need to go help in the fields now" He heard her cry out after a few moments of laughter.

"Good that, Newt dont work her too hard" Gally called across the glade to the other boy who nodded back with a smile on his face. The glade was their home and the gladers were happy but they were just waiting to get out and get home.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Hey guys I love everyone who has started following or favorited this story :) You all rock ! I would love your opinions on the story so please review. Enjoy this next chapter, this is when Newt begins to sorta see Em as more than a friend... Enjoy !

P.S I sadly do not own the maze runner series but it rocks so I sometimes wish I did :)

"Em wake up, box is here" Newt walked past the sleeping girl in the spare hammock and flipped it over depositing the girl onto the ground.

"You slinthead" She grumbled as he hauled her up off the ground. He grinned at her before he kept walking.

"Thats your keeper to you, shuck face" Newt fired back the retort so quickly it looked like they had rehearsed it. They made it to the box and then Em watched as Alby and Newt hauled up the newest greenie. He was tall and looked to be about Albys age. As his eyes roamed the crowd they eventually landed on Em. At that point the boy did something nobody had ever done.

"Dibs on the girl" He said as the gladers collectively gasped. Everyone knew that you didn't think of Em like that.

"You touch her and you are out of here before you can blink" Newt said in a deadly tone as Alby nodded. Gally joined Newt in flanking Em as he too gave the greenie a death glare. The gladers all watched as the greenie smiled and nodded to show his understanding of the rule.

That didn't deter him from spending all his free time trying to find Em in the glade. The gladers all put in effort to distract the greenie, Newt even made sure the other keepers worked the greenie from dawn till dusk. Em helped keep the greenie away by moving between the fields with Newt and helping Gally and the other builders with small projects in the homestead. However one day on her walk from the homestead towards the fields she was stopped by the greenie.

"So its Em right?" He asked as she tried to sidestep him

"Yes now go back to work greenie. You are with Winston today and he doesn't like greenies wandering off" She warned as he pulled her over towards the small tool shed near the maze.

"Well I just wanted to get to know you better." He whispered before he kissed her and shoved her against the side of the shed. Em tried to hit him to get him to let go of her and she managed to get his lips off of hers for a second to shout. "Help!" Before his lips came crashing back onto hers. Her hand groped along the wall searching for something when it came into contact with a small branch. She grabbed it and hit him over the head with it. As he fell down she looked up to see Newt, Gally and Alby all running towards her with the rest of the gladers hot on their heels.

"He kissed me" She choked out before Gally and Newt pulled her into a small hug between them.

"He's out of the glade when the doors close." Alby said before the baggers tied him up and led the greenie away the slammer.

"No, you can't do this too me !" The greenie shouted that evening as he was led towards the group of gladers surrounding the doors. He had heard of the horrible things that happened in the maze at night. A gap opened between Alby and Newt and the greenie was shoved into the small circle around the entrance to the maze. Newt grabbed a small bag of provisions and threw it into the maze. Em was standing a few yards out of the circle but the greenie caught sight of her and began to make his way over to her.

"Poles." Alby shouted and the gladers felt the wind begin. The boys lowered their poles and began to push the greenie into the maze. He fought back and almost broke away before Em picked up a pole and helped one of the younger gladers. With one last shove from Em, he was pushed into the gap in the doors and the gladers watched as he turned and ran into the maze.

"His name was Nick" Alby mumbled as the gladers slowly went their own ways. Newt looked over at Em and noticed that she looked as pale as a ghost. He strode over and put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

"Hey lets go sit in the fields" He murmured as he steered her away from the doors.

"Why does it have to be so cruel Newt? We know what the maze will do to him." Em appeared to be in a trance and shuddered slightly when she mentioned the maze.

"He could have hurt you Em. It was against the rules, in fact the rule you made. Gladers dont hurt other gladers." Newt said as they plopped down onto the grass near the fields.

"I know Newt" She whispered as he watched her study the grass and the fields.

"Why dont you take a day off from helping in the fields?" Newt said after a moment

"Why newt, you think Im messed up in the head?" She asked as she turned to face the older boy.

"No, I just think that you need a day to recover from what that piece of klunk tried to do to you." Newt said calmly while he brushed the hair from her eyes. She looked up at him and he noticed the sea of emotions in her light brown eyes. Without hesitating he pulled her into a hug. The two gladers sat like that for over an hour, neither one talking, just sitting there and content with each others company.

"Ok you slinthead I'll take the buggin day off. Now lets get to bed." She finally broke the silence before she pulled newt to his feet. They went over to the track-hoes camp and within minutes they were both dead asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Hey guys so I've been thinking and I have been torn between publishing the rest of this story following the movie story line or following the book story line... let me know which one you all would prefer :) **

**Also sorry for the delay.. I know its a lame excuse but I've been busy with school and such and working on some other writing projects but I promise one of my resolutions is to work on my writing more consistently.**


	9. Chapter 9

Months later Thomas showed up in the maze. Em had been working in the gardens and after the incident with Nick she was wary of meeting the greenie when they were fresh out of the box. Newt would do introductions during the greenies trials and at that point they knew not to mess with Em. So Em stayed in the gardens as the siren blared and continued to work on transplanting some of the younger plants. Humming a tune while she worked she didn't even notice that the sun had gone down until Alby walked over with a torch to come get her.

"Em, it's time for the gathering"

"I know Alby" Em replied as she dusted off her hands on her pants.

"The greenie won't mess with you, Newt and I have told him the rules." Alby said reassuringly as they made their way to the bonfire.

"Light 'em up!" Alby shouted as the boys all threw their torches into the bonfire. She laughed as some of the boys pulled her around the circle and after a few minutes of mingling with her boys she spotted the two boys she was looking for. Newt and the greenie were sitting by the log that marked the track hoes sleeping camp. With a grin she walked over and prepared to introduce herself.

"Hello greenie, names Em" The slight girl sat down next to the new boy as Newt finished telling him about grievers." Oh I see Gally was being generous tonight with his drinks" She eyed the jar newt was holding and with a laugh he handed it to her. The greenie was surprised to see Newt smiling and laughing when before he had seemed so much more serious.

"There's a girl in the glade?"

"Yeah she showed up two months after I did, in the first year of the maze." Em turned her attention to the gangly boy as he slurred his words slightly.

"I keep these boys in line" Em said jokingly while she ruffled Newts hair and took a sip from the jar he had handed her.

"Em I'm the one in charge of you." Newt said with a smile as she took in his glazed eyes with worry.

"Just cos Im not a runner." She said as both of their smiles faded. The greenie watched as newt put his arm around her and he carefully took another sip of the drink she held in her hand.

"At least you are alive Em" Newt whispered before he got up to show the greenie all the different jobs in the glade. Em frowned slightly as she noticed the older boys slightly sloppy steps and wide grin and recalled the bitter taste that lingered on her tongue. Gally must have made a small batch of shine for Newt. Em was going to have to tell him to stop getting her best friend drunk. However that talk could wait for another night. She finally stood up and made her way over to the fighting circle where Gally was taking on the greenie.

"This ought'a be good" Newt said as chuck walked over and Em patted the younger boys head. Newt put his hand around Ems shoulders and she stood and just watched as the boys fought. She considered them all her brothers and hated seeing them fight however it did let them unwind after hard days.

"Bet'cha my new blanket that greenie wins" Newt said as he nudged her shoulder and she dropped her hand from chuck's head to lightly hit the older boys arm.

"Good that. It'll be easy taking your blanket from you. Gally always wins" Em snorted as she watched gally throw the greenie to the ground.

The fight was short and gally did eventually win when the greenie remembered his name. His name was thomas.

As the gladers all celebrated the greenies name Newt walked over to his bedroll and pulled his new blanket from it.

"Thank you newt" Em said with a smile before pulling something from behind her back. In her hand was a new machete.

"Where did you get this em?"

"The box, none of the other gladers wanted it" She said as the two made their way over to where the track-hoes and their keeper set up camp.

"Why did Gally give you jar of shine?" Em whispered as she made him look at him. He looked bemused but after a moment he looked at her with new eyes.

"He said I needed to loosen up that I've been too stressed with the glade and with you and alby. So he gave me a drink."

After a few moments of hearing the others begin to wind down and go to bed Newt and Em fell asleep near their fire. The fire died down as the boys snores drowned out the muttered conversations coming from the homestead. A movement from the corner of the track-hoes area made Em wake up slightly. Looking around she didn't notice the boy sitting in a hammock and staring at her. With a small yawn she moved closer to newt and went back to sleep, with a smile on her face.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N Hey guys so I saw Scorch Trials yesterday and to quote newt now "Im bloody inspired" can't wait to get to the scorch trials in the story and enjoy this new chapter !

Newt woke up to the sounds of the doors opening while Em for once slept through the grinding noise. He slipped out of his bedroll and rolled it up before going off to find the greenie. After checking the homestead he remembered that Alby liked to show the greenies the name wall to tell them of the dark days and how you have to mind the rules of the glade. He grabbed a water skin and began to make his way towards the name wall as the rising sun woke the rest of the glades inhabitants. At the name wall he saw Thomas finish carving his name in the wall.

"Day one of trails greenie, you start in the fields with me and then move on to winston and the slicers, gally and the builders and so on." Newt said as he approached the greenie at the name wall. He traced his own name carved on the wall and then looked at Thomas.

"Come on shank, I can't leave Em in charge of the fields forever, she would kill all our food" He laughed as he finally began to lead Thomas towards the fields.

"Hey Gus you keep Em in line while I was gone?" Newt asked with a chuckle as the made it to a small part of the field they were working on that day. The other boy just laughed and pointed to the slight girl standing on a tree stump to try to finish tying a bean plant to the trellis. Newt snuck up behind her and reached around her to finish the knot that she could barely reach.

"There you go Em, all secure." He said as she turned around with an exaggerated frown on her face. The duo turned to Thomas and the other gladers and Newt began to issue the orders of the day, today they were weeding and caring for the beans and some other plants in the trellis area. And so the work in the fields began and everyone worked quietly for the first few hours of the day, and then thomas began with the questions. He asked about ways they could get out of the glade and everything he suggested they had already tried or thought of.

"What about climbing the walls, going down with the box?"

"We've tried it, that and every other thing you could possibly think of we've tried" Newt said looking up from the plant he was weeding around.

"Now go get us more fertilizer, Em go help the greenie find it" The girl's head snapped up to look into the brown eyes of her keeper.

"Why do I have to show him around newt?"

"Cos the others will try and pull tricks on him and I know you won't" He said with a smirk before ruffling her hair and pushing her in the direction of the greenie. As she walked over to thomas she pulled a silly face making some of the other track-hoes and the keeper laugh. She dropped the silly attitude when she was closer to thomas.

"Come on greenie" Em said in a commanding voice that instantly made thomas think that the slight girl spent too much time around newt and alby. He desperately tried to follow her as she wove through the forest towards the fertilizer heap.

"Wait, slow down" Thomas called after he lost her around a turn. She peeked out from behind a bush

"Slow down? I won't slow down, slowing down gets you killed in the maze greenie"

"Is that what happened to newt?" He asked and he watched as she froze and faced him, she should have expected an observant boy like him to notice the slight limp newt had.

"Don't you ever bring up newts injury in front of me ever again you hear, he will tell you about it when he's good and ready" She said in a low deadly voice. She stopped her threat when they both heard the trees rustle and saw Ben appear.

"Ben?" Em asked inquisitively as she approached her former running mate. He seemed a little off and she gasped when she recognized the symptoms.

"Thomas run" She said quietly as she gestured for him to go back the way they came. She could lead Ben away from the gladers if he left. The gladers would be safe.

"He started it all. Why are you with him Em?" Ben ranted and he threw Em to the ground and tried to make his way towards thomas when Em managed to grab Ben's ankle making the boy fall to the ground and Thomas took that moment to run past him and grab Ems hand and pull her to the homestead shouting for help.

"Help!" Newt's head shot up as he heard Thomas shout. The shank shouldn't be in trouble, he was with…. "EM!" Newt shouted as he turned towards the woods to see the two bolting towards the homestead with what looked to be ben following behind them. Thomas tripped and brought Em down with him and then Ben fell on both of them and tried to grab their necks. Newt ran forward and with no hesitation he whacked Ben upside the head with his shovel. He pulled em up and threw her into Albys arms before helping some of the other gladers hold Ben down.

"Pull up his shirt" Albys voice rose above the cries of Ben. The gladers watched as one of the boys pulled up his shirt revealing a ugly puncture wound.

"Griever sting" Em whispered as newt's eyes went to the scar on her shoulder. It was a visible reminder to the gladers of what was out there in that maze and it did its job well. Ben began to struggle as he realized what this meant. The box hadn't sent up any grief serum meaning he would be sent out to the maze.


	11. Chapter 11

Thomas and Em watched as a team of gladers dragged Ben to the pits, Newt with them.

"You two need to see the med jacks" Alby said after a moment. Em then noticed the scrapes and cuts that covered her and thomas' forearms. In a daze she led the way to clint and jeff and let them bandage any and all wounds Alby soon joined them and began to ask Thomas about Ben.

"It's the changing Alby, he said that.." Em paused as she tried to remember exactly what had happened in the woods.

"He said it was all my fault, how can this be my fault?" Thomas asked getting into a panic. Newt came back along with chuck and they convinced Thomas to calm down and get dinner. Thomas watched as Newt and chuck worried over Em picking over her dinner and they all managed to coax her to eat a few bites before the gladers all stopped their evening activities. Sundown came far too soon for the glade. Em snapped out of her daze as Newt, Alby and the other keepers went to go get the poles. Minho went to the pits to get Ben.

"Come on chuck" She whispered as she stood and followed the rest of the gladers to the doors of the maze. They stood surrounding the doors and poles were handed out to the gladers except Em. She hadn't participated in a banishing since nick and she never approved of them, but like Alby said, sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. There was no way to get Ben back, he was gone with the griever venom. Chuck and THomas stood by her and they all watched as Ben was released from his bindings and a bag of provisions was thrown into the maze by Minho. Then the winds came and the gladers all squared their shoulders and began to slowly shuffle Ben towards the maze using their poles. Chuck buried his head into Em's hair as she held him close. He had never watched a banishment and he had really liked Ben. Em watched sadly as Ben was pushed into the maze and with one final scream of desperation the doors clanged shut, leaving the keepers at the shut doors surrounded by the gladers.

"I know what you guys are thinking, that what we just did was wrong. That Ben was your friend."

Alby began to speak barely above a whisper as he looked up at Em, Chuck and Thomas.

"But that was not Ben! That was the grievers and the maze, he belongs to the maze now." He finished as he walked out of the cluster of gladers towards the homestead, followed by Newt, Winston, Gus and Frypan while Minho remained at the wall.

The rest of the gladers began to walk away from the wall and Em walked up to stand next to minho at the wall. They both just stared for a second before she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"He was a good runner Minho, one of the best" She said after a moment. "I need to go make sure Alby and newt are ok, you good?"

"Yeah now slim it" He said quietly

"Good that" She murmured before hugging him and leaving him alone. Walking back across the glade she saw the flicker of torchlight at the name wall and knew that Gally and the rest of the builders were busy scratching Ben's name off the wall. Halfway to the homestead she met up with Alby and minho, the three paused and talked for a few minutes and then Em continued to go track down Newt. She smiled when she finally found him under the canopy near the track hoes camp sitting down with two bed rolls next to him. He held open his arms and she burrowed into them and they just sat there in the silence as they both thought about what had happened that day.

"Newt?" Em asked as they lay near the fire under a small canopy after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah em?" The boy replied as he combed his fingers through her hair

"Alby wants me and minho to go running with him tomorrow to try to find where ben might have gotten stung by the griever."

"But you haven't been running for almost a year now"

"Yeah but he knows that only minho and I know the maze perfectly."

"Are you sure Em? You haven't been in the maze since your changing" Newt's voice was filled with worry. He remembered the shaking girl he had had to comfort after she had tried to go into the maze after her changing.

"Alby needs me to do it" She said with a slight quivering of her voice.

"You will do fine, now slim it" Newt said with a chuckle and a kiss on top of her head.

"Good that" she said quietly as she began to drift to sleep with her head on his shoulder. The older boys eyes were filled worry and fear, first Ben had been stung for no reason and now Alby wanted to take Em and go into the maze. He wasn't one to believe in superstitions but he had a bad feeling about this little trip into the maze. Once the fire burned down and the other track hoes fell asleep he unrolled the two bed rolls under the canopy and settled Em onto one before settling in to get some sleep on the other. Whatever happened tomorrow he hoped it would help them get out of the glade once and for all.


	12. Chapter 12

Yay we are finally getting to the good parts of the story ! This is the last update Im going to do for a while because I have midterms coming up but enjoy this wonderfully awesome chapter and review and let me know what you think :)

In the morning Em woke up at dawn to the usual noise of the doors to the maze opening. She untangled herself from the limbs of her gangly best friend and made her way to the maze. Each step closer to the maze reminded her of her changing and the pain she felt. She was contemplating running to the forest and hiding for the day when another set of footsteps approached her.

"Em" She turned to see alby walking up to her. He awkwardly patted her on the arm and then continued walking towards where Minho was waiting at the entrance to the maze.

"Good luck shanks" The runners turned around to see Gally and Newt standing there. Em took a deep breath and rushed over to hug Gally while Newt patted Albys shoulder. After a second of staring at each other Newt moved to Em and gave her a tight hug and a quick kiss on her forehead.

"Be safe and remember the rules." He said quietly, any runner knew the rules and even though he hadn't been a runner for years, the rules were always at the forefront of his mind.

"I will Newt." She whispered into his shirt as she reluctantly let go.

"Runners let's go" Minho said and they ran into the maze leaving the glade as the sun rose to wake the rest of the gladers. The rest of the day progressed with every keeper leading their crew and work being done to keep the glade running smoothly as usual except newt was also constantly fielding the greenies questions about Alby and the maze and why Em and Alby had gone into the maze. He even told Thomas about the first glader, Alby and how they had managed the dark days and how they learned to survive, the gladers survived on trust.

"What if they don't come back?" Thomas asked Newt for what seemed like the millionth time that day. They were standing under one of the canopies after lunch while it poured rain into the glade.

"They will come back. They have to come back." The glader replied quickly while he glanced at the sky. Thomas couldn't tell if the boy said it to reassure Thomas or himself. Thomas looked across the glade and saw Gally worriedly looking at the doors too and knew he was just as worried as Newt and not good at hiding it. After another hour or so of waiting out the rain it finally petered out and the sun made its appearance low in the sky.

"Newt sundowns almost here" Gally called as he and some other gladers went to watch the doors for the runners.

"Good that. Come on you heard Gally" Newt said leading the way to the doors. He stood in front of the group of gladers and they all began to wait.

"Cant we send someone in after them?"

"No it's against the rules" Gally growled

"We can't risk losing anyone else" Newt said quietly as he realized that without Alby he would be the leader of the glade.

The sun was setting and they all felt the wind that signified the closing of the doors and the maze when they saw them.

"Look!" Chuck shouted as the gladers all saw two small figures carrying a third. As the figures got closer Newt could make out that Em and Minho were dragging Alby.

"Minho Em leave him!" Gally shouted over the screaming gladers.

"They're not going to make it" Newt said as the figures continued to move closer to the doors, they were still too far away to make it out though.

"Run!" The gladers were all shouting as they heard the doors begin the mechanical creaking as they closed. Em looked up and Newt could make out her mouthing something and it took him a second to realize that she was mouthing his name.

"Come on Em I can't lose you." He whispered as all of the gladers continued to shout at the runners. Thomas however had had enough of just waiting and just when it seemed like the doors were closed, Thomas threw himself into the gap.

"No!" The gladers were all desperately trying to grab at Thomas but it was too late. The doors were shut. Newt watched as the gladers slowly went back to their evening routines. He just stood there gazing at the doors while Gally moved closer to them.

"Thomas you better keep them alive in that bloody maze." He whispered before he went to go talk to some of the other boys about the next day's tasks. Newt and Gally finished giving the night time orders and then both boys grabbed their bed rolls and camped out in front of the doors. It was going to be a long night of waiting.

Inside the maze Em and minho were leaning on each other panting up a storm while thomas looked at them and alby.

"What happened to him?"

"What do you think?" Minho asked as Em rubbed her griever scar. Thomas started at the two, Minho looked terrified and Em was shaking with fear.

"Good job greenie, you just got yourself killed" Minho said after a minute of them all standing around.

"Come on the maze is changing, we can't stay here" Em said, her voice cracking towards the end of the sentence. Thomas and Minho grabbed Alby and the group of gladers made their way over to a small wall of ivy.

"So what do we do?" Thomas asked as he set Alby down

"There's nothing to do Thomas. don't you get it? we are already dead." Em snapped as she pushed herself off of the wall and walked up to him.

"The minute those doors closed our death certificates were signed, sealed and delivered" She finished as Thomas looked up at the wall thoughtfully.

"What if we can hide alby and then hide ourselves"

"Listen shuck face, the grievers don't fall for no game of hide and seek" Minho snapped as Thomas continued to ignore the two runners. He grabbed some vines and made a rope and pulley system.

"We need to get Alby off of the ground and into the air so the grievers don't get him" Thomas said before they began to work on hoisting the leader of the glade up into the wall of ivy. Em and Minho both paused when they heard the maze move and the clicking of a griever begin. Minho and Em tensed up and Thomas tried his very best to get them to stay. Minho however bolted within another minute of hoisting Alby up the wall.

"Em think of Newt and Gally, you want to get back to them right?" He asked and was rewarded with a nod from the terrified girl. They quickly tied up Alby and then Em heard the griever move even closer. As she was about to run Thomas pulled her into the ivy and they waited as the griever stalked past them. Em was trembling and crying in fear so badly that Thomas had an arm wrapped around her waist and a hand over her mouth in case she bolted or the griever heard her. They waited with baited breath as the griever left and Thomas scrambled out of the ivy.

"I have to go find Minho ok em? You need to stay with alby." He commanded before running off through the maze.

Em waited in the ivy, she was terrified and knew that she needed to stay calm. As she worked on her breathing she started to climb the interior of the ivy to reach Alby and made sure he was ok. As the minutes turned into hours she went into a catatonic state and only thought of one thing. Home.

The gladers hadn't slept a wink in the glade, they were all up in their camps listening to any noises from the maze wondering if their friends would make it out of the maze. Newt and Gally had lain on their bed rolls just starting at the sky trying to figure out ways that Thomas and the others could possibly have survived. Around dawn they were doubtful that any of them survived the night in the maze and they managed to get a restless hour or so of sleep before the doors began to creak and groan at first light.

When the doors opened in the morning, the gladers all gathered around it and waited to see if the grievers had left their friends alone. After a moment of waiting Newt's shoulders dropped as he did not see Alby and Minho or Em. He gulped and listened as gladers began to leave and return to their daily tasks and Gally told Chuck to not get his hopes up about the maze. He slowly turned around and was heading back to the fields when he heard Chuck gleefully shout.

"Guy look!" Chuck was pointing at a moving group of people stumbling towards the entrance to the glade. Newt looked at the group and sprinted back to the doors with a smile on his face, Thomas had done it. He had done the impossible.

Thomas and Minho were the first two out of the maze, carrying Alby between them. Alby was handed to the med-jacks who were immediately sprinting with him towards the homestead with the help from some other gladers. Thomas and Minho were engulfed in a cloud of the remaining gladers asking questions and that's when Newt noticed something.

"Em" Newt looked around wildly, trying to find the petite brunette. A weak laugh came from down by his shoulder.

"Right here you slinthead" She said as he finally landed his gaze on her.

"You made it." He whispered as he hugged her to him.

"I'm not entering that bloody maze ever again." She whispered into his shirt as he tugged her chin up to look at him.

"You can spend the rest of your days here in the glade with me" He promised, before he did something incredibly unexpected.

He bent his head down to her level and captured her lips with his. He heard her respond with a gasp and moved her hands to grasp at his neck.

"Hey you two break it up" The teens looked to the right to see Gally standing there a faint look of disgust on his face.

"We need to call a meeting" He said as he looked around at the rest of the gladers. "Right now"


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks everyone who has favorited or followed this story, it really makes me happy that y'all like it :) Enjoy!

"Gally let's not be rash" Newt reasoned as he kept Em pinned to his side

"Meeting now!" Gally shouted as he led the way to the council hall

"I'll go stay with Alby, watch out for Thomas. Gally seems out to get him, and he saved us in the maze" Em whispered as she squeezed his hand and left the boys to go sit with Alby. She only made it halfway to the homestead when she heard Gally shout from the council hall that it was all Thomas's fault. Shaking her head at Gallys fear of the unknown she slipped into Albys room. He was tied to the bed frame as any glader going through a changing and panting with the effort to not scream. She stood in the doorway for a few minutes just watching him and then she moved towards him and cooled his face with a wet rag that clint or jeff had left in a bowl by the bed. Small tasks could only distract her for so long.

"It's ok Alby" Em whispered as she sat on the floor across the room from him. "I couldn't be there for you when the griever stung you and for that I'm sorry" she continued as she stood up and left the homestead with a sad look in her eyes. She couldn't stand there as Alby lay in pain, it broke her heart. After a few minutes of contemplating going to the meeting but she knew it would be chaos. The gladers were never very good at organized meetings and she knew they would all be talking at once. With a glance at the council hall she turned and made her way into the forest and went to go to the creek that the gladers got their water from. She settled down on a rock overlooking the creek and sat contemplating everything that had happened, Thomas could be the key to their escape from the maze or he could be their destruction.

"Em" Newt's voice called through the forest as his footsteps came closer.

"Newt what are you doing here?" Em asked as she turned from her spot by the river.

"Came looking for you."

"You should be with alby"

"You should be with him too" He countered as she flung a rock into the river.

"I feel horrible I should have been there for him when it happened, it was Minho that found him"

"That wasn't your fault Em, you were just following orders" He said as she stood up and turned to face him.

"Newt, I'm scared, Gally is right. This all started when thomas showed up." She looked up at Newt and he did the only thing he could do. He strode up to her and kissed her gently.

"What are you doing?" She whispered as they separated.

"Panicking" He whispered back before going back to kissing her. He backed her up to a tree and she used the roots to give herself a little bit more height. He pulled her further up him and eventually settled on just picking her up. She squealed against his lips when she felt his hands pull her legs and settle them on his hips. As he further backed her into the tree she burrowed her hands into his hair.

"Wait Newt" Em whispered, breathless, as she pulled away for a second.

"What Em?" His voice was lower than normal and looked at her worriedly, thinking he had done something wrong.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this so close to where the other boys get their water. We don't want to give them a show."

"Yeah probably a good idea." He whispered as he set her back down and watched her fix her rumpled hair.

"Em, I don't think i can do this." Newt said quietly

"Do what?"

"I can't lead the gladers." She stepped closer and wound her fingers between his.

"Good thing you don't have to do it alone." she said with finality before standing on tiptoes to lightly kiss his jaw.

"Good that" Newt said with a hitch in his voice before he tugged her hand and they went to return to alby.

The couple made their way towards the homestead when Clint and Jeff walked out of Albys room.

"Hey newt, greenie took some guys into the maze, Gally called a meeting of the keepers." Newt looked at albys room and Em knew the struggle he was facing. He wanted to be there for his friend but his job as a keeper needed to be upheld, he was also in charge of the glazers, it was his responsibility to go to this meeting.

"I'll stay with alby you go to the meeting." She said as clint and jeff began the trek to the council hall.

"it's almost sundown" He whispered as she hugged him.

"I know" She murmured as tears filled her eyes, this meeting would be about Thomas but it would also be about alby. They had to decide if they were going to banish him. Newt kissed her forehead and turned to go to the council hall, she watched with sad eyes as he finally entered the hall and closed the door behind him. She then sat in the doorway of Albys room as he continued to struggle as the griever venom restored his memories. The minutes ticked by and Em was about to doze off when the alarm for the box began to echo throughout the glade. She took off running from the homestead to see Newt and Gally reach the box first with the rest of the gladers running from all over the glade. She sprinted as fast as she could and made it to the box right as the boys opened it to reveal a girl laying in the box. The gladers watched as Newt jumped down to investigate.

"It's a girl, I think she's dead"

"Newt what's in her hand?" Em asked as she looked at the girls face. She hadn't seen another girl since, well she couldn't remember. Newt bent down and pulled the note from the sleeping girls hand.

"She's the last one ever" Newt read the note out loud and the gladers all looked around in confusion.


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks to everyone who has followed or favorited this story :) you all rock and I would love to hear some of your feedback about the story !

Previously on Subject A6

"You can spend the rest of your days here in the glade with me" He promised, before he did something incredibly unexpected.

_He bent his head down to her level and captured her lips with his. He heard her respond with a gasp and moved her hands to grasp at his neck. _

_"__Hey you two break it up" The teens looked to the right to see Gally standing there a faint look of disgust on his face._

_"__We need to call a meeting" He said as he looked around at the rest of the gladers. "Right now" _

"Gally let's not be rash" Newt reasoned as he kept Em pinned to his side

"Meeting now!" Gally shouted as he led the way to the council hall

"I'll go stay with Alby, watch out for Thomas. Gally seems out to get him, and he saved us in the maze" Em whispered as she squeezed his hand and left the boys to go sit with Alby. She only made it halfway to the homestead when she heard Gally shout from the council hall that it was all Thomas's fault. Shaking her head at Gallys fear of the unknown she slipped into Albys room. He was tied to the bed frame as any glader going through a changing and panting with the effort to not scream. She stood in the doorway for a few minutes just watching him and then she moved towards him and cooled his face with a wet rag that clint or jeff had left in a bowl by the bed. Small tasks could only distract her for so long.

"It's ok Alby" Em whispered as she sat on the floor across the room from him. "I couldn't be there for you when the griever stung you and for that I'm sorry" she continued as she stood up and left the homestead with a sad look in her eyes. She couldn't stand there as Alby lay in pain, it broke her heart. After a few minutes of standing there contemplating going to the meeting she decided it would be chaos that it always was. The gladers were never very good at organized meetings and she knew they would all be talking at once and shouting to make themselves heard. With a glance at the council hall she turned and made her way into the forest and went to go to the creek that the gladers got their water from. She settled down on a rock overlooking the creek and sat contemplating everything that had happened, Thomas could be the key to their escape from the maze or he could be their destruction.

"Em" Newt's voice called through the forest as his footsteps came closer.

"Newt what are you doing here?" Em asked as she turned from her spot by the river.

"Came looking for you."

"You should be with Alby"

"You should be with him too" He countered as she flung a rock into the river.

"I feel horrible I should have been there for him when it happened, it was Minho that found him"

"That wasn't your fault Em, you were just following orders" He said as she stood up and turned to face him.

"Newt, I'm scared, Gally is right. I heard him when I went to go sit with Alby, this all started when Thomas showed up." She looked up at Newt and he did the only thing he could do. He strode up to her and kissed her gently.

"What are you doing?" She whispered as they separated.

"Panicking" He whispered back before going back to kissing her. He backed her up to a tree and she used the roots to give herself a little bit more height. He pulled her further up him and eventually settled on just picking her up. She squealed against his lips when she felt his hands pull her legs and settle them on his hips. As he further backed her into the tree she burrowed her hands into his hair.

"Wait Newt" Em whispered, breathless, as she pulled away for a second.

"What Em?" His voice was lower than normal and looked at her worriedly, thinking he had done something wrong.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this so close to where the other boys get their water. We don't want to give them a show."

"Yeah probably a good idea." He whispered as he set her back down and watched her fix her rumpled hair.

"Em, I don't think i can do this." Newt said quietly

"Do what?"

"I can't lead the gladers." She stepped closer and wound her fingers between his.

"Good thing you don't have to do it alone." she said with finality before standing on tiptoes to lightly kiss his jaw.

"Good that" Newt said with a hitch in his voice before he tugged her hand and they went to return to alby.

The couple made their way towards the homestead when Clint and Jeff walked out of Albys room.

"Hey newt, greenie took some guys into the maze, Gally called a meeting of the keepers." Newt looked at albys room and Em knew the struggle he was facing.

"I'll stay with alby you go to the meeting." She said as clint and jeff began the trek to the council hall.

"it's almost sundown" He whispered as she hugged him.

"I know" She murmured as tears filled her eyes, this meeting would be about thomas but it would also be about alby. They had to decide if they were going to banish him. She sat in the doorway of Albys room as he continued to struggle as the griever venom restored his memories. The minutes ticked by and Em was about to doze off when the alarm for the box began to echo throughout the glade. She took off running from the homestead to see Newt and Gally reach the box first with the rest of the gladers running from all over the glade. She sprinted as fast as she could and made it to the box right as the boys opened it to reveal a girl laying in the box. The gladers watched as Newt jumped down to investigate.

"It's a girl, I think she's dead"

"Newt what's in her hand?" Em asked as she looked at the girls face. She hadn't seen another girl since well she couldn't remember. Newt bent down and pulled the note from the sleeping girls hand.

"She's the last one ever" Newt read the note out loud and the gladers all looked around in confusion.


End file.
